


Tea

by CaineGreyson



Series: Something Old, Something New [2]
Category: Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them (Movies), Harry Potter - J. K. Rowling
Genre: Emotional Hurt/Comfort, Fluff, Fluff and Angst, M/M, Pickett is the best
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-11-21
Updated: 2016-11-21
Packaged: 2018-09-01 09:16:23
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 738
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/8618665
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/CaineGreyson/pseuds/CaineGreyson
Summary: Newt Scamander can't work, because Credence is wearing his jumper.





	

**Author's Note:**

> Thank you all for the lovely support on the first work in this series! I hope you enjoy the next instalment!

Ink is dripping all over Newt’s fingers, and it’s Credence’s fault.

He can’t seem to tear his eyes away from the corner where the boy huddles, Pickett resting in the palm of his pale hand. He’s murmuring something soft and there’s a smile tugging at the corners of his mouth- it’s the most relaxed he’s been since they began the journey to London, and Newt is thankful.

And yet- It’s only been three days he supposes, and he knows that he shouldn’t feel so stung by Credence’s solitude, but something in him wonders if he’s gone and ruined it already by pushing the boy. He shakes his head and returns to his notes.

That’s when he notices the ink.

It seems to be making its way all over the scrawled notes and delicate diagrams Newt has spent the last few months working on, as though an exotic slug has slimed all over his work. At the moment, thick splotches are dripping onto a detailed observation of a Thunderbird’s wing, sketched with a precision that only he could manage. 

He doesn’t mind too much- he’d ruined the placement anyway (or so he tells himself).

Credence has drawn his knees up to his chest, taking up as little space as such a tall, rather gangly boy can manage. He’s wearing a Hufflepuff jumper, a cast-off of Newt’s (well, he told Credence it was old, unwanted, but really he’d wanted to see how he would look in Hogwarts apparel), and the bottom is draped around his knees so that he looks totally swamped in the yellow fabric.

It seems that Newt won’t be getting any work done today, at least not with Pickett probably tormenting Credence in the corner- he’s harmless, of course, but he can get very annoying and be extremely dramatic, and he’s sure that that isn’t what Credence needs at the moment- a fussy bowtruckle should be the least of his worries!

He’s about to stand and take Pickett outside to his tree, with the aim of eventually coaxing him to stay there for a little while and letting Credence rest (honestly, he’s more attached to him than he is to Newt at this point), but that’s when he hears it. 

The sound startles him into total stillness and he halts completely, halfway out of his chair, in frozen shock.

Credence Barebone is laughing. Properly, half-falling-over, tears-in-his-eyes laughing, and Pickett is making that funny squeaking noise he makes when he’s done something particularly mischievous. 

Newt knows that sound far too well, but Credence- he’s never heard him laugh before, never seen his eyes fill with tears of anything other than terror. He’s never even seen him smile wider than a slight lift of his mouth’s corners, and yet here he is, with an exclamation of absolute mirth pouring from his mouth and Newt has never seen anything so utterly uplifting.

He straightens, slowly, but he never once lifts his eyes from Credence. He wills him not to stop and wishes that he could freeze this moment, hold this sound in his mind forever and ever, but soon, the laughs have calmed to hiccups, and Pickett has returned to his usual chattering squeaks. 

He wonders if he would be welcome in this moment. Could he ever make Credence laugh like that- could he ever make him smile so widely? 

Something in him says that he could not, that he’s Newt Scamander and he annoys everyone- people laugh at him, not with him. 

But in his heart of hearts he believes that this boy, this wonderful, kind, sensitive boy, will someday smile just as he did a moment before, yet this time it will not be a strange occurrence. Someday Newt will not have to savour the sound of his joy because Credence Barebone may be suffering now, but this moment shows that he is healing, and that is, in some part, thanks to Newt Scamander, and suddenly spilled ink matters no more.

He boils the kettle with a tap of his wand and pours hot water into two mugs. He stirs, hearing the delicate, chime-like clink of spoon on china, and when he hands Credence his usual evening cup of tea, he doesn’t leave him to himself. 

He doesn’t wonder if he’s wanted, or question himself, but instead he crouches next to him, gently drapes an arm around his bony shoulder blades and asks,

“Well! What did I miss?”

**Author's Note:**

> Again, thank you all for the support and I really enjoyed reading all of your wonderful comments and feedback. If you have anything to say please feel free to say it in the comment below- how do you guys think I'm doing with the characters?


End file.
